Microsoft’s Work Trend Index Report Insists AI Clears the Path for a More Productive Future
Key takeaways
- New Microsoft survey polled workers on their thoughts about the future of work
- Forty-nine percent of those surveyed are concerned AI will replace their jobs, but 70% want to use AI to delegate tasks
- Business leaders more concerned with increasing productivity than using AI to replace jobs, survey finds
ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing, Google Bard — helpful assistants, or the end of human labor? Microsoft’s new work trend index report is trying to reassure the masses that it’s very much the former — while also promoting its Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program.
Everyone knows Microsoft is heavily invested in AI catching on, but the report has some neat insights into early views of AI in the workplace from an employee’s perspective. Let’s get into what the report says and what it means.
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What did the report say?
Microsoft surveyed 31,000 people in 31 countries and used its own Microsoft 365 suite data to reach three conclusions:
- There are too many emails, notifications and meetings in the workday which is hurting innovation
- Workers are afraid AI will replace them but are keen to use it to relieve the administrative burden
- Employees need urgent up-skilling to benefit from AI in the long run
Of course, it’s in Microsoft’s best interest to find AI is a help rather than a hindrance to workers. It’s invested $10 billion into OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and integrated the tech into basically every product for consumers and enterprises. It needs AI to take off.
But the report is another positive step forward for putting AI in the ‘copilot’ seat rather than the “collapse of the human workforce” narrative. 76% of employees surveyed believe AI could help with creativity, while business leaders are twice as interested in using AI to increase productivity instead of cutting jobs.
And the report stands as a reminder that new jobs and skills will come from AI integration in the workplace. Eighty-two percent of leaders said their employees would need new skills to harness AI fully; a Goldman Sachs report from earlier this year reached a similar conclusion, saying 60% of jobs today didn’t exist in 1940.
The bottom line
We already see AI being used in many ways to make life easier. Take investing, for example — one of the the benefits of our AI comes from the huge amounts of data it can analyze at the drop of a hat. So there’s no reason AI can’t help workers rather than entirely replace them. The ideal scenario is an AI-human alliance in the workplace.
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